Can Cherries’ frontman provide much-needed tonic following ‘wasted’ chip saga?

Our differential gamble on Kevin de Bruyne as ‘triple captain’ backfired spectacularly, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola opting to start him on the bench at Sunderland. He was recalled for the home game with the Potters but the Citizens failed to break down a stubborn Stoke City rear-guard at the Etihad, resulting in a wretched points return from the Belgian international.

We desperately need to get some points on the board in Gameweek 28 to make amends and are prepared to take a 4 point hit to make it happen. With just 4 Premier League games scheduled to take place this weekend, getting 11 players on the pitch is likely to be a tall order for many seasonal fantasy football managers but we’re going to have a good shot at it.

Junior Stanislas hasn’t featured for Bournemouth in February or March and his ongoing fitness remains a concern. He’s been clogging up our bench for far too long, so we’re going to transfer him out and replace him with team-mate Joshua King, who has been leading the line in recent games. King is classified as a midfielder and has also been on penalty duties, which significantly adds to his appeal.

De Bruyne burnt us for the second time this season, so he’s also straight through the FPL exit door, with Liverpool’s Sadio Mané coming in, with what can only be described as a very favourable fixture for the Reds, who entertain Burnley at Anfield on Sunday.

Mane, however, is just pipped to the GW28 armband by Romelu Lukaku, who is in action for an Everton side that is making a habit of scoring late goals. The Toffees take on West Bromwich Albion, one of Lukaku’s former sides.

We still have our bench boost chip to play, while our wildcard is burning a hole in our pocket but future double gameweek planning should be much clearer after this weekend, since all of the FA Cup quarter-finals will be decided by ‘sudden death‘.

Bournemouth have successive home games against West Ham United and Swansea City, so we’re banking on their Norwegian international being ‘King’ for at least one day!